The Meeting
by Auphora66
Summary: When Bella meets Paul in New Moon. Paul's point of view. NOT a Bella/Paul fic. Oneshot.


**Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters from the Twilight saga, Stephenie Meyer does.**

**Summary: When Bella meets Paul in New Moon. Paul's point of view; NOT a Bella/Paul fic. Oneshot.**

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**-Paul-**

"You haven't been home in a while." Mom said hesitantly as I trudged up the stairs. I stopped in shock and backed up a few steps to see her expression. She was sitting on the couch looking uncomfortable, her muscles were tense and her eyes were averted from mine.

"Yeah, I had some stuff that needed to be taken care of." I replied coolly, wondering why she was even bothering to talk me. I highly doubted that she had miraculously gotten over her fears.

She cringed at the sound of my voice, but to her credit, she continued the conversation. "I-Is everything okay?" she asked, her eyes lifting enough to see my hands.

So Sam hadn't kept her informed. I frowned at the realization that it had been on purpose; he's wanted my mom and I to reconnect for a long while now. My hands quivered and I shoved them into my pockets, noticing the way my parental figure recoiled slightly into the couch. I strolled back down the stairs and sat in the chair, to give Mom some space. The furniture protested loudly, reminding me of last week's incident. I shook my head to dislodge the memory and took a deep breath, summoning calm.

I told her that things were _not_ okay.

Her eyes finally looked up into mine, and she nodded for me to explain.

The attention -the evidence of concern- lifted the invisible weight off my chest and I continued the conversation, with something akin to enthusiasm, "You've heard about the hikers missing, right?"

Her lips pursed into a tight line. I took that as a yes.

"There's been a Cold One hanging around; running away and coming back. The bloodsucker's been skirting around the edges of our defense; so Sam thinks that she's trying to separate us to get a better chance of getting in, but we don't know where that is. I mean, we killed her mate not too long ago, and you'd think that she'd be trying to get some revenge but that doesn't seem to be her motive…" I trailed off when the explanation had essentially ended. I waited for a response of some sort.

When I only received an indifferent stare, I got to my feet. "I gotta get going." I said.

I had only come back for a change of clothes, really. I headed for the stairs and paused, looking back at my mom only to see that she was back to reading her book. Hurt bit my skin and crawled into my buzzing muscles. I flexed my hands, in an attempt to loosen the tension, and continued on my way. That was stupid, getting my hopes up. You would think that I'd be used to her callousness by now.

After a quick shower, I was dressed and ready to leave. Passing through the living room, I debated whether I should scramble a quick, half a dozen eggs or get my butt back to keeping La Push safe. The second option quickly won when I saw that Mom was still curled up on the couch, effectively pretending that her only child didn't exist. I walked out the door slowly to give her time to say something but as the door was closing behind me, there was nothing.

No 'good bye'.

No 'be careful'.

No 'come home soon'.

I ran off the porch at the sound of a page being turned over and stalked over to the woods. After tying my clothes to my calf, I phased.

Sam, Jared, and Embry were already in their wolf form; I ignored their thoughts not only out of courtesy but because I didn't want to deal with anyone else's life. My anger wasn't a surprise and didn't trigger any alarm or concern, which was fine with me.

I wasn't mad at my mom. Not really. I was angrier at myself more than anything. I needed to stop hoping for her to come around…because she never would. I wasn't her son anymore-- her boy had transformed into a myth. The days of boasting to her coworkers about my accomplishments were over. Never again would she slap a hand on my back and tease me about getting a girlfriend. No more would she-

"_Guys!"_ Jacob called for our attention, sounding excited. _"I know what the leech is after. Meet me at the road above the cliffs." _And then Jacob was gone again, leaving behind an almost tangible anticipation in his wake. Like the others, I raced towards the designated spot; curiosity shooting through us as if we were one wolf and not four.

The discussion from last night proved that none of us had any idea as to what the bloodsucker has been after…so how had Jacob figured it out? He had sounded a hundred percent sure, judging by the absolute certainty in his voice. So where did he get his evidence?

And why in the hell did he cut off like that? Couldn't he have just told us, instead of making us meet him at the cliffs?

Jacob had a lot of explaining to do.

--

I phased back and changed quickly, anxious to hear what Jacob had to say about the bloodsucker's intentions. "Alright, let's go."

"Not until Embry is here." Sam said calmly, his eyes searching through the trees. Although I tried not to let his tranquility irritate me, my hands still broke out into a light tremor.

"Impatient, much?" Jared commented, buttoning his cut-off jeans.

I leaned back against a mossy tree and crossed my arms, choosing not to reply. My shaking hands didn't need further instigation. A few moments later, the sound of footfalls became apparent. My eyes shifted northeast and there was Embry. His grey paws were blurred slightly as he ran towards us. 200 yards…150…100…50…Embry skidded to a stop. His form shuddered and I averted my eyes to the grass. There was a tearing sound and a rustling of clothes.

"Hey Sam, is Emily cooking extra this morning?"

The question tugged a small smile at the corner of my mouth; reminding me that -next to the safety of our tribe- consuming large amounts of food was our biggest priority (because you can't save humanity from bloodsucking monsters on an empty stomach).

Sam opened his mouth as if to say something, but then he settled with a nod to answer Embry's question.

--

Beneath the mild jokes of Jacob's well-missed sanity, we were pretty concerned. It didn't help that the kid hadn't been adjusting to his heritage very well. I mean, none of us had at first, but he had been taking it far worse than any of us had, excluding Sam. I just couldn't shake the feeling that Jacob was trying to resist his destiny. His being.

My gut twisted and the fine hairs on the back of my neck prickled. Something was wrong with the situation; Jacob was acting oddly. I didn't need our minds to be connected to know that my brothers were on the same wavelength.

Before I knew it, we were stepping out of the trees. And right then, my instincts had been proved correct.

Standing behind Jacob was Bella Swan. Outside of Jacob's thoughts, I hadn't seen her since she had gotten lost in the woods. She looked better, not in the physical sense, but in the way she held herself. Instead of a dazed, empty look in her eyes (as if the life had been sucked out of her), there was an analytical interest mixed with fear. She had an arm wrapped around her middle and a trembling hand encased in Jacob's.

Why was _she_ here?!

Then it clicked with an awful clarity and my mind began to race. Jacob had told her the truth. Somehow, he had gotten past Sam's injunction and had revealed the tribe's deepest secret. And Bella wasn't even his imprint. More than that, she's had relations to the bloodsuckers -there was no way that she would give a damn about the Pack. Her leeches would come first. Always.

"What have you done, Jacob?" Sam demanded, furious.

Our Alpha's question wasn't good enough for me; Jacob had screwed up _big_ time, and he needed a wake-up call. And he needed it fast, before he messed anything else up. So I stormed past Sam and voiced my thoughts.

"Why can't you follow the rules, Jacob?" I yelled, throwing my arms up in the air. "What the hell are you thinking? Is she more important than everything -than the whole tribe? Than the people getting killed?"

In the back of my mind, I knew that yelling at him wasn't really helping things. What was done had been done, and nothing could ever change that. I wondered if anyone would believe what Bella had to say about us. Her bloodsucking friends might, were they still in contact? The vampire we had killed hadn't been a friend, right?

"She can help," Jacob said quietly, not breaking eye contact.

"Help!" I scoffed loudly. A hum went through my arms, but I paid the warning sign no attention. "Oh, that's likely! I'm sure the leech-lover is just _dying _to help us out!"

"Don't talk about her like that!" Jacob shouted, his composure cracking. He released Bella's hand and took a small step forward.

She would always hold _them _in higher regard than the Pack or the tribe; it was obvious! So why couldn't he see that Bella wasn't on our side? A shudder shot through my body while heat knitted its way into my back and shoulders.

"Paul! Relax!" our Alpha commanded.

Shit. Sam was right; I needed to calm down. Shaking my head in an effort to pull myself together, I silently scolded myself for getting this worked up. You would think that I would have known better by now.

"Jeez, Paul." Jared muttered, clearly as tired of my temper as I was. "Get a grip."

What did he think I was trying to do?! I turned my head and leveled a glare at him, my lips instinctively curling back. At Jared's unabashed face, I returned my attention back to the pale girl, my eyes narrowed. This whole thing was her fault. If only the damn leech-lover had left Jacob alone.

Jacob tensed and moved to stand in front of Bella, like a shield.

"Right, protect _her_!" I raged, insult bubbling beneath my skin. As if I would hurt her intentionally! I was a Protector, how could he believe that I would do such a thing?! She was a human (and a girl, no less), above anything else.

Another shudder ripped through my body, my muscles trembling with spasms. A tingling current was rolling through me, accompanied by waves of heat.

No, no, no! I gritted my teeth, trying to push the magic out of my system -but I was too late. My head tilted back and, instead of a curse or cry, a growl came out from between my teeth.

"Paul!" I distantly heard Sam and Jacob yell.

A gray haze clouded my vision as my muscles contracted, pulling me to the ground. The transformation was smooth; quick and pain-free. And because I was so used to phasing, there was little disorientation with being fitted into the vastly different structure.

With my teeth bared threateningly and a growl reverberating through my chest, I fell into a fluid crouch. My focus was on Bella, hoping to illustrate that divulging our secret wouldn't be such a hot idea. Let her see what happened when werewolves got angry! Let her see how dangerous we were!

Maybe she would leave Jacob alone and we could all get on with our lives.

Seeing as the said kid was running across the road, coming at me, I mildly wondered if _he_ could leave _her_ alone. The idiot.

The porcelain doll of a girl screamed out his name but he ignored her shout of concern. Jacob phased in mid-stride, exploding into a large reddish-brown wolf and shredding his clothes. His thoughts and emotions were direct: stay away from Bella.

Did he really believe that I was going to hurt the stupid chick? I lunged at him and he met my attack, both of us snarling in escalating anger.

_You've always let your temper control you, so why would I believe anything different now? _Jacob answered my thought, aiming his teeth at my neck.

He was baiting me, hoping to get me angry enough to slip up. It was a nice strategy but I wasn't falling for it. So in rebellion, I ignored his thoughts and chose to focus on beating him.

While exchanging snaps of teeth and swipes of claws (none of them landing), Jacob kept pushing me back with his shoulder, keen on putting some distance between Bella and our fight. His advantage in weight and size won him dominance. And in no time, our battle had been pushed into the woods.

Too bad, I thought when the trees obscured the road; Bella should see us fight. It would do her some good to get a healthy dosage of reality: werewolves are dangerous.

_Shut up, Paul! She's not an idiot. _Jacob snapped.

Anyone who willingly hangs out with vampires is not right in the head, I replied.

Fueled by anger, Jacob's attacks became a ferocious flurry of teeth and claws. I leapt back to avoid a downward strike but I couldn't get out of the way fast enough. His claws dug deep into my front leg and a yelp escaped my throat without my permission. A couple of curses ran through my mind and I gritted my teeth against the pain. A part of me was tempted to continue fighting and avenge my forearm but I knew the effort would be a waste of time. Settling down on the ground, I glared up at Jacob. Gee, thanks kid. Now the wound is going to-

_Paul! Jacob!_

The two of us stiffened at the Alpha tone. An SUV sized wolf emerged from the trees, his ears flat with outrage. Oh man, I thought, now we've done it.

Sam leveled a nasty glare at me.

Hey! Don't get pissed at me; he's the one who told her.

_And you're the one who showed_ _her._

How else were we supposed to scare Swan off?

_We aren't scaring her off! _Jacob growled. _She's trying to _help _us, you-!_

_-That's enough, Jacob. _Sam interrupted. _Tell us what you found. You told us earlier that you knew what the vampire is after._

_Bella. _Jacob answered, his muzzle wrinkling and his ears flattening. _She's after Bella. Cullen had killed her mate last year, and now the leech is looking for revenge. Mate for mate._

But he's gone. It's pointless now.

_Yeah, but Victoria doesn't know that._

Victoria?

_The leech._

Ah. So what now? Chief Swan isn't going to like it when he finds out that his daughter is hanging out with us. I mean, I heard that he's been asking about you Sam.

Sam tilted his head, one ear twitching to the side. _Since when?_

_Since Bella thought you were the leader of a cult and were brainwashing La Push one guy at a time. _Jacob replied, a laugh coming out of his chest like a strange cough. I laughed too because the mental image was just too damn funny.

Sam didn't laugh and that in itself sobered Jacob and I quickly. _We need to tell the others. _Sam said with an undercurrent of determination in his low voice.

I let out a huff of air through my nose. Can't it wait until after breakfast?

At the mention of breakfast, the image of the Pack and Emily crowded around a small table filled Sam's mind and I knew that Pack-business would be put on hold. He was hungry too, and Emily had been pulling out the muffin tins before he left for his routine reservation-check. Sam hoped for banana-nut; Jacob didn't have a preference.

I got to my feet and instantly shifted my weight to the right when my left fore leg started throbbing. Looking down, I saw that the slashes had stopped bleeding. I made sure to give Jacob a dirty look. He simply lifted a shoulder in a shrug, not at all guilty.

Now it's going to itch, I complained. Healing quickly was handy, but the process was annoying when you couldn't scratch at it.

_You'll get over it. _Sam said, turning in the direction of home. _I've got some spare clothes that you two can borrow. But if either of you ruin them, you can run around naked for all I care._

Me and Jacob shared a snort of amusement and then ran alongside Sam. The run home was short, and we phased back upon entering Sam's territory. Sam left the sanction of the woods and to stroll over to Bella's truck. He plucked his clothes and shoes from the bed without so much as glance around.

"Jeez, Sam. Aren't you going to check the windows to make sure no one's sneaking a peek?" I teased, heading towards the C-Tree with Jacob. The C-Tree (for clothing-tree; I wasn't the one who made up the name) was the dead tree that stood five yards away from the end of the forest; the thing's hollow and holds a few pairs of rolled up clothes and leather ties. --Emily got sick of us climbing through the window to get to Sam's dresser, and she wasn't the only one; there was nothing funny about getting caught naked by someone else's girlfriend, er, fiancé.

Sam scoffed, putting on his clothes out in the open. I grabbed a bundle from the C-Tree and started doing the same. "You're missing your chance."

"Really? My chance at what? To flash Emily? Sam's already on that."

Sam snorted from nearby Bella's truck and I shared his amusement. "To flash Bella," I corrected, zipping up my pants. "How else are you going to court her?"

Jacob laughed. "I'll do a strip tease. It's no fun when I'm putting my clothes _on_."

"Is this going to before or after breakfast?" I asked, pulling on my shirt as we're heading towards the house. "Because I'd like to know when my eyes will be safe from mental scarring."

"After. To give Emily some time to leave," Jacob smirks, straightening the hem of his shirt. "I mean, she's already been traumatized by you; there's no need to add to her nightmares."

"Nightmares?" I asked, my tone portraying confusion. "Oh, you mean the fantasies that she doesn't want Sam to know about?"

We laugh. Sam is already in la-la-imprint land, stepping into the house and giving his girl a kiss on her scarred cheek. The muffins smell excellent and I punch Jacob in the shoulder for bringing up my run-in with Emily. He retaliates by jabbing his knuckle into my kidney. It doesn't really hurt and Jacob and I laugh again because, c'mon, Emily totally has the hots for me.

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**A/N: I wrote this to help me get back into the writing mood and to help develop Paul's character for **_**Color and All's**_** sake. Please review; both criticism and compliments are accepted! :) **


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